Blooming Day of Justice
by Seireina
Summary: Hillary Day, Haley Bloom and Aaron Justice are three very different characters. Can they survive living together? Mostly, can they survive living with Hillary? An adventure with the Grim Reaper is sure to bring everyone a tad bit closer.
1. Introduction

**Author's note:**_ The actual plot starts on the second chapter, this is an introduction important to get basic information about the characters and the situation as none of this is presented later._

The three of them were lying on the damp grass in the diminutive garden of the lot. They were looking at something that appeared to be a shed, basically just four walls, a roof and a door.

'It looks like a doghouse', said one of the girls. 'Just how I like it.'

The other two, a guy and another girl, looked at her weirdly.

'I guess it's kinda cool going into this tiny structure and knowing the real house is underground', said the other girl.

The guy had remained silent the whole time, now spoke.

'I'm not excited at the prospect of living underground. I don't know how you can stand living without sunlight. This, to put it simply, sucks!'

'Cheer up Mr. Azalea!' started the girl that had spoken first. 'Unless you're a flower you don't need sunlight to live. In fact, dark is better!'

The guy just sighed.

'I don't use dark to cover up my criminal activity like some people I know', he said staring at the girl, emphasizing the last part, 'and I'm a writer, I need light, I need inspiration..'

'This is all we could afford after dad lost all his money on gambling', said the other girl.

The guy grimaced.

'Dad? We didn't even know the guy. We only found we were related after he died. And it would have been much better if we hadn't, considering we had to pay the debts he couldn't, draining us financially after his death. I hate that guy!'

'Hey! Don't talk like that about your father!' said the first girl. 'If we hadn't found out he was our farther we wouldn't have found each other. And I'm really glad we did. I never had any siblings and now I'm so happy I do. I haven't known you guys for long, but I feel really close to you!'

'Hillary, you tried to steal my wallet when you hugged me for the first time', said the guy with a stern look on his face.

'It was an emotional moment, I was trying to lighten the atmosphere!' she replied in a ready-to-cry voice with a matching expression.

'The moment or my wallet by a 100$? Yeah, don't think I didn't notice! Talk about dad and all his family robbing me.'

'Hey! Take that back!' shouted the other girl, now looking mad as oppose to her usual serene expression.

'It's ok Haley, I get that a lot', she said trying to calm the girl down.

'And you haven't picked up that hint yet?' said the guy smirking.

All three of them smiled and lay back admiring the clouds.

'Don't you wonder how it would have been if we had grown up together? What would be different, how things would be', said Haley with a slight dreamy look in her eyes.

'I know I would be out of pocket money all the time', said the guy sarcastically.

'Now I always wanted a brother like Aaron! Funny, sarcastic, unaggressive and in complete touch with his feminine side!'

Aaron's head turned violently fast towards Hillary.

'Say what?'

'Please, if you were any more in touch you'd be gay! You're a novel writer, you like sunlight and have an unnatural obsession with chamomile.'

'It's nature's most valuable treasure! Made up of cute little flowers with an intoxicating scent, it soothes you to your dreams and gives bangs the colour of the sun!' said Aaron staring in mid air with dreamy eyes.

'Aaand, proved my point!' said Hillary looking all very smug.

'Ah chamomile…'

Both girls looked at him. He appeared to be daydreaming, lost in his own world of heavenly beverages. They looked at each other and smirked.

It already felt like they had known each other for years and over the last few weeks they had really bonded. All of them were very different characters so living together would be difficult, but there was also a chance it would be fun. After all, what other choice did they have? The father they'd never met had died and left them all broke, so they kinda had to.

They were going to live in an underground house of two levels of basements. There was only a shed to cover the stairs down to there and give the illusion of a building.

Despite its low price, the house was actually sort of luxurious. The basements, of course. The top basement had all the living areas and bedrooms in an area that covered more than 30 square meters. On the lower one there was a massive garage (how to get the cars in and out of there was a whole other story) and an empty room that worked as a storeroom. Not too shabby a house.

They were laying there, gazing at the house they were going to live in, Hillary and Haley looking forward to it, Aaron not so much. Seriously, was it even legal to build something like this?

'Hey! How about we go check it out?' said Haley cheerfully as she got up. Hillary followed suit and Aaron struggled to stand as he reluctantly followed her. As she was the one with the keys, she unlocked the door and entered, Aaron after her.

Hillary stood outside for a second. She looked at the shed her siblings were going into. Everything was so different now, she had them. They were family, possibly the family she always dreamt of but never had.

She didn't have a farther of course, none of them did, but she did have a mother. A mother who she hadn't spoken to for 3 years.

They never got along and Hillary's impossible temperament caused problems. Her mother never supported her and always looked down at her, but even so she recognized that her attitude had been instrumental in destroying their relationship and was afraid it would happen again.

'Are you coming in?' Aaron called to her. She glanced at the house one last time before she walked towards the open door. She remembered all of her bad moments and decided not to let them happen again. She closed the door.

No one is sure how well that would go. Hillary Day was always different from everyone else, almost like an outcast. She was a person of incredible intelligence which was prominent ever since she was a child. Problem was she always used it for the wrong things.

Her midnight activity was hacking from which she earned large sums of money (her father's debts had set her back), she was into criminal business and always managed people to give her money out of the blue. Still, she seemed to be more into stealing than money itself. She was a kleptomaniac and couldn't control it.

Despite being very intelligent, she acted dumb a lot of the time. She rarely thought what she said or did and that came with all its consequences.

It didn't really surprise people that didn't know her, no one thought she was particularly clever by looking at her or even interacting with her. She was just too pretty to be smart and she knew that. She would conceal her intelligence and use it to her advantage, however truth be told, she didn't really have to go out of her way.

Acting dumb and goofy was her natural, her potential would only unravel in a few case and was not her only weapon.

She was fully aware of her looks and she loved it. Her hair was long and ruffled, the perfect shade of blond. Her eyes were big and dark coloured, if you looked into them deep enough, maybe you would see some kindness behind her badness.

Aaron heard the door close and looked behind him to see Hillary following him down the stairs. It would be difficult living with her, he thought. He had grown up with a younger brother, but an older sister that acted like a younger brother was a different story. They were both strong characters and were sure to clash, as they had already done many times.

He had survived living in a house full of people and noise with many distractions. Peace was important to him as he needed to write and it was impossible for him to concentrate without it. Even if it was only two people, for some reason he felt things wouldn't be quiet.

But that's just how he always was. Call him grumpy, call him the buzz killer, that's just how he was. He could be funny, witty and pleasant one moment and the next he was asking everyone to keep it down. He got a bit selfish when he was writing and as much as people told him, he refused to admit it. His dedication was such, he could be locked up in his room fro hours, writing none stop, the sophisticated literature language stuck with him, so he had a tendency to slip into formal speech.

He was a very talented writer who could easily seduce a reader with his words. However, he was not only charming on the pages, but also in real life. And it wasn't just his words that were charming, no, Aaron Justice was in fact a very handsome man.

Dark, short, spiky hair that still seemed soft to touch, light tan skin and shortly-shaved facial hair that gave him that "tortured artist" look. His most striking feature was by far his eyes. Looking into them there was warmth, despite their dark colour, kindness, generosity, love, all his kind soul was mirrored in them.

He was unaware of the influence he had on people, especially females and although he didn't show it, he was a rather shy person.

Haley was already in the living room looking around when she saw the other two climbing down the stairs. She couldn't believe she was actually related to them. She'd got use to them as friends and bonded with them, but she couldn't accept the fact they were her siblings. Problem was she was afraid she never would.

That's why she was also a bit nervous about moving in with them, but she hoped it would be a chance to get to know them. Till now she was scared of Hillary, as she represented everything she stayed away from, crime, danger and being spontaneous and slightly intimidated by Aaron for the seriousness he gave off. Hillary and Aaron had seemed to hit it off, well, at least they seemed like they had known each other for years even if they kept fighting, while she had catching up to do.

She was amazed at how strong personalities they had, but was worried she would become their pushover, something that happened often with her. Other than a few outbursts of rage or strong emotion, she was sweet, passive and very, very shy. She was intimidated by strong willed, confident people and now she was roommates with two of them. It was a shame she didn't feel completely comfortable with them yet, too introverted and shy, she always seemed to have a problem opening up to people.

It's just other people never seemed to count Haley Bloom as a friend, she always felt left out. Even now in this situation. Truth be told, no one wants to befriend the shy girl. It was written all over her, not just her behavior, she also looked the part. Ginger red hair, light skin and hunched shoulders, trying to make herself as invisible as possible. Her eyes were like those of a scared deer and you could read the fear and insecurity in them.

They were now all gathered in the living room. It was indeed a really big room, yet still full of furniture. They stood awkwardly at a distance from each other, Hillary twiddling her thumbs, Aaron tangling his hand in his hair and Haley crossing her arms in front of her and staring at her feet.

'So, can you believe this is really happening?' said Haley, 'Us all moving in together?'

Hillary shrugged.

'Sure, why not. I call the east room!'

'What difference does it make, none of them have any windows', Aaron moped.

'Here we go again', said Hillary crossing her arms and huffing, 'Is this how you're gonna be all the time?'

'Well if I've got to live-

'Stop', Haley said calmly. 'We'll have enough time to fight, lets not start now.'

Aaron nodded his head and Hillary suppressed the urge to say "too late".

'I'm grateful you're my family and I'm glad I had the honor to meet you', she started, 'you're the best friends I ever had!'

Hillary brought her hand up to her chest, this was one of the few moments she looked genuinely moved, while Aaron merely smiled.

'Aww, that's so sweet! I want to thank you guys for being so nice to me and putting up with what I do.'

At the last part Aaron looked away and sighed inwardly. The girls connected their hands after their sharing and looked at Aaron.

'What?'

'What have you got to say?'

His hand was back in his hair, tangled.

'Nothing.'

'Nothing? We ignored each others existence for 22 years and now we meet you have nothing to say but nothing?' said Hillary with great disbelief that someone could be so cool about the whole thing.

'It's 21 for me', he replied.

'19 for me', Haley chirped.

'Nice nice, remind me that I'm an old lady why don't you!' said Hillary frustrated.

'Why, cause you act like a child?' Aaron said as he chuckled.

Hillary's face went darker and it wouldn't be unrealistic to say hell was letting loose. And incredibly hard blow was landed on Aaron's head, sending him off balance, Haley caught him before he fell.

'Please! Don't start fighting!' she said.

'Two words: too freaken' late!'

Aaron leaned on the nearby couch to get on his feet, glaring at the girl who'd hit him.

'Are you completely insane? No, tell me, are you? The head! You could have killed me!'

Hillary was huffing angrily like a mad bull.

'Well apparently I failed!'

He immediately straightened up his body and started shouting at Hillary. She shouted back, the noise created unbearable and undoubtedly heard from outside.

Haley just stood there watching the scene covering her ears, unable to do anything. She tried shouting at them to stop, but she couldn't get above their level of noise.

"Oh well", she thought as she left the room. There was a garden upstairs that needed planting anyway. A garden from which, as she noticed, you could hear their noise.


	2. Adventure at the graveyard Part 1

It was just a normal day at the Bloom-Day-Justice household. Haley had woken up early and was watering the plants in the garden, Aaron was working on his new novel after a series of threats from his publisher and Hillary was nowhere to be seen. Typical Hillary.

They all just assumed she had gone out early to play guitar for tips in the park or get into trouble when two of her love interests bump into each other.

Everything was peaceful and quiet, to Aaron's delight. However in the Bloom-Day-Justice household, nothing can be peaceful for too long.

'You guys!'

Hillary's voice was heard from the lower basement to everyone's surprise. How could she have been in the house and no one noticed?

Haley and Aaron dropped what they were doing and ran to where Hillary was. She was in the empty room next to the underground garage. Their jaws dropped once they stepped into the room, looking a bit too shocked. There stood Hillary, next to a statue twice her height, dark, intimidating and a bit too familiar.

'Is…is that the….' started Haley.

'The graveyard statue?' Aaron said surprised, finishing her sentence.

Hillary laughed awkwardly.

'I think I might have made a mistake…'

'You think you might have made a mistake?' Aaron said in a mildly angry tone, getting more and more frustrated.

'Well, you stole the graveyard statue and then brought it here…It's not exactly a non-mistake', said Haley now looking amused. In fact, Aaron was the only one panicking. He was tangling his hands through his hair and tugging on it.

'What are we gonna do? I mean, what were you thinking? Seriously, what were you gonna do with this?'

Hillary looked at the statue and shrugged.

'Sell it?'

A loud cry of despair was heard from Aaron.

'What have you got yourself into? What have you got all of us into?'

He started pacing up and down the room anxiously, occasionally mumbling incoherent things. Haley completely composed, watched the scene quietly. Hillary now looked a bit distressed, frustrated with herself for stealing something so huge with no further plan or even purpose. How could she have been so stupid?

'Ok', said Haley leaning her hand on her brother's shoulder to stop him from pacing, 'we need to calm down. Worrying and getting our heads tangled will get us nowhere. Now let's all focus and think of what to do.'

Hillary, who had been quiet for a while, spoke up.

'I was thinking of melting it and selling the metal. It's a mix of bronze and iron which decreases its value, but there's a lot of it so we could get a good price', she said cheerfully and smiling widely.

Her siblings glare was so fierce it wouldn't be unlikely to burn a hole in her head.

'Just… kidding?'

'That's right', said Haley, 'we need to return it.'

At this Aaron flinched and Hillary's eyes widened.

'And you call me crazy!' she practically shouted.

'She's right, it's too risky', said Aaron, surprisingly taking his crazy sister's side.

'Yeah, I went through much trouble to obtain it.'

There was the glare again.

'Um... sorry?'

'Damn right sorry!'

Haley appeared to be angry for a moment.

'Look, we have to return it, people are going to wonder where it is, we CANNOT have it here, understood?'

The other two nodded.

'I guess it's better than just throwing it in the sea or just dumping it, we'll have to do the work and we will have wasted something so majestic', said Hillary stroking the metal stand of the statue.

The other two rolled their eyes. Aaron spoke first.

'Ok then! Operation "Return-the-statue-to-the-graveyard-where-it-belongs-never-to-be-and-I-say-never-to-be-stolen-ever-again" begins!'

Hillary looked at him puzzled.

'How would you get it there?'

'I was thinking, tie it to the car, let it roll with some wheels and maybe cover it up with something so no one sees it.'

'Ha! Funny, that's exactly how I brought it here!' she said in between laughs. Sensing the murderous intent in the air, she stopped.

'We'll start at night', Aaron continued. 'Be ready at 20:00.'

_20:49_

The three of them were outside tying the concealed statue to the tiny car, after having managed to drag it up two flights of stairs. It was dark and the neighborhood was empty, it was almost scary. Haley looked around worriedly, a bit frightened of the darkness and silence and concerned whether they'd get caught. The other two were cool, acting as if this was a pleasant night out. It would have been for Hillary if it weren't to return a stolen item.

'Are we set?' she asked.

'I think so', said Haley, the hesitation prominent in her voice. Meanwhile, Aaron had already got in the car.

'Let's go.'

Haley got in the back while Hillary stood outside.

'I thought I was driving!' she whined.

'Forget it. There's no way I'm letting you drive. You've caused enough trouble already, now get in', he said in a stern voice.

'I'm not getting in unless I drive!'

'When then I guess you'll stay here and we'll go get the job done ourselves', said Haley.

With that she was in the car seated next to Aaron, putting on her seatbelt.

'Now let's go', said Aaron as he turned the engine on. Haley looked out of the back window to keep an eye on the statue and make sure it moves along with the car. Hillary sat silent and the front and appeared to be sulking.

The car started and the three of them were quiet, none of them wanting to break the comfortable silence. Aaron was completely expressionless, carefully driving, Haley looked very worried and had even brought her hand up to her mouth to chew on her nails, while Hillary appeared to be sulking, sad, guilty, remorseful, nervous, all at the same time. After a while, she decided to speak.

'Guys, I'm really sorry I got you into this mess. I know I shouldn't have done it, I don't even know why I did. I'm sorry!'

There was a slight pause before Aaron spoke.

'It's ok. We're your family and we will always help you. You may consider yourself forgiven, but please, for the love of God, do not try anything like this again!'

'I won't, I promise', said Hillary smiling, 'I'll stick to hacking!'

The other two rolled their eyes.

'Oh, about that', started Aaron, 'stay away from my computer, I don't trust you near it ever since you broke my last one.'

'Hn, I don't care, I have my own!'

'Well that begs the question why did you use mine', said Aaron smirking.

'And risk breaking it?'

Aaron huffed at her comment, Haley giggled and Hillary smirked. He just shook his head as if to say "what do I have to put up with".

The car continued on its way, dealing with the extra weight better than could be expected. They were getting closer to their destination.

'Hillary', Haley's voice was heard from the back, 'you never told us what happened.'

'With the statue?'

'Yes.'

Aaron took his eyes off the road for a second but then remembered he was driving and quickly looked back. Hillary started her narration.

'I was in the mines finishing a job I had to do. I had left the house at 2pm as I was told. Driving home I passed by the graveyard. I saw the statue and in the start I was like "how creepy" but then I thought "why not?" It was practically calling me, there all alone up to anyone's grab. Next thing I know I was tying it to the car with my rollerblades underneath it. The sun would be coming out home so I hid it in the basement. I hadn't realized what I was doing until I was finished. I really couldn't help myself!'

There was another silence, this one uncomfortable.

'Hills, I think you need help', Haley said timidly, afraid of a potential outburst, 'your kleptomania is pathological, you don't seem able to control-

'Are you shrinking me? No, seriously, are you? Last time I checked you don't have a degree-

'Enough!' said Aaron calmly but in a stern voice. 'She's right, listen to her.'

'What? So you think I'm crazy!' she said with a look of disbelief on her face.

'No, we think you have problems and you sooner get them fixed. We're here!' said Aaron as he pulled over. Hillary tried to protest at Aaron's comment, but the other two had already gotten out.

'Not fair! Using the "we're here" excuse to avoid me!'

'True, now shush', he replied, walking towards the graveyard gate.

'Why, are we going to wake anyone up?'

A laugh escaped Haley, but she cut it off immediately. Aaron just sighed.

They were in front of the gothic graveyard gate and none of them wanted to admit they were scared. They didn't need to, it was written all over their faces.

The only light in the area were two street lamps out on the pavement near the gate, but that was it. From there on there was darkness.

The tall statue that once dominated the place with its presence, was no longer there. Even without it, it wasn't any less scary. There were leafless trees everywhere that looked like huge hands, ready to snatch anything near them. The lake in the middle of the graveyard reflected the moon, a full moon. Behind it, a mausoleum. It was gothic style and looked incredibly creepy in the dark, just like everything in the cemetery. Even the rails and the gate, it made it look as if behind them was the world of the dead and that it was the only thing to separate it from the world of the living. And for sure, none of them wanted to leave the world of the living.

'So', Aaron said, trying to hide the fact his voice was trembling, 'let's get the statue.'

The others nodded. They all headed towards the car and untied the statue. Hillary pulled the cover off and tossed it aside.

'Farewell my dear friend, farewell', she said looking genuinely sad.

Aaron and Haley were puzzled by this, especially since many people had probably said that coming here.

They dragged the statue to the gate, which Hillary opened as Haley and Aaron pulled it through from the ropes. Hillary then went behind it and started pushing to help them. They managed to get it in front of the lake, which was its original location.

'Great, now all we need to do is stand it up!' said Haley trying to sound cheerful but failing, not managing to conceal the fear in her voice. She wasn't alone; several gulps had been heard from Aaron who looked creeped out of his mind. Hillary was the only one who seemed cool, as if the whole situation wasn't a big deal.

'Someone could hold it and the other two pull it up', suggested Haley.

'Great! Aaron will be holding it and we'll pull it up!' chirped Hillary.

Aaron was taken aback by this.

'What? Wait, why should I hold the statue?'

Hillary laughed and shook her head as if to say "duh!"

'You're the strongest one of course! And even if you're not, no one else is stepping up so basically you're stuck with it.'

He looked at both girls with disbelief, especially Haley who just shrugged her shoulders. Then he lowered his eyes and composed himself.

'Well, I'm not necessarily the strongest. I mean, Hillary's biceps are bigger than mine.'

Haley nodded in agreement. Hillary had her arms crossed in front of her and was tapping her foot impatiently. A few moments passed.

'I don't really wanna give it back', said Hillary, 'so I'm ok with just standing here.'

Aaron tilted his head towards the sky and sighed.

'Damn it! Let's just get this done with!' he said, a bit louder than he should in a cemetery as he placed his hands on the waist of the statue. Haley and Hillary grabbed the ropes and started pulling in the direction of the mausoleum. Aaron kept the statue steady and helped lift it. Once it was many centimeters elevated in a 45 degree angle, he went under it and pushed from there. It was almost straight and all that would be needed was another push which Aaron gave a bit too forcefully. The statue wobbled but he steadied it in time. He sighed in relief and tried to wipe the sweat of his forehead on his sleeve.

'Aaron, careful.'


	3. Adventure at the graveyard Part 2

The statue wobbled again. This time it was leaning in the opposite direction, towards the lake. Aaron stepped forward and gripped it tighter but it was too heavy. It landed in the water with a big splash.

A few seconds passed before the event sunk into their minds. Aaron looked at the girls in deep shock. They were standing in the direction the statue had fallen, meant to pull the ropes that way to get it up so once it started to fall, they were powerless, it was all up to Aaron.

Haley looked just as panicked he did, only Hillary remained stoic. They quickly rushed towards the place it had fallen and looked into the water.

'Nice work. You've killed the fish.'

Aaron glared at Hillary angrily while Haley stared at the statue under the water.

'It doesn't matter', she said, 'it was facing backwards anyway.'

Her unease and fear could be heard in her voice despite her efforts to make things seem better than they were.

Aaron was seriously freaking out, he stepped backwards away from the lake, pulling his hair and mumbling incoherent words under his breath. Haley looked at him concerned and approached him trying to calm him down, but he kept backing away.

'Hey, at least we got rid of it, now no one will blame us for stealing it', said Hillary with a slight smile on her face.

'Damn damn damn DAMN it!' shouted Aaron beyond enraged, 'this is all your fault! You shouldn't talk, don't talk, we wouldn't be going through this if you hadn't stolen the damn statue! All that trouble only for it to fall in the water!'

Hillary instantly got angry.

'Well this wouldn't have happened if you had just held it properly! How difficult is that? I managed to drag it from here to the gate all on my own, how much of a wimp are you?'

Aaron was very worked up and Hillary's comment hit his last nerve. He started cursing her relentlessly and she cursed back, causing a scene in the middle of the cemetery. The noise was enough to wake the dead.

Haley stood there watching for once again, feeling more and more frustrated. She couldn't believe her siblings were being so disrespectful, disturbing people even after their death. They had got themselves into a mess and the fighting was not helping.

'SHUT UP! Both of you, shut up already!'

They stopped and looked at her. Where had that outburst come from?

She was livid and out of her mind, none of them spoke in fear of her reaction.

'Now stop it, you're not going to solve anything by fighting!' she whispered madly as if not to wake up anyone, 'whatever's happened, happened, there's no going back and throwing the blame on each other will not help.'

The other two nodded, embarrassed after being scolded by Haley.

'Let's see if we can pull it out of the water', she said as she headed towards the lake and got hold of one of the ropes that extended from the water. Hillary and Aaron joined her, getting hold of the other rope and together they proceeded to pull, but before they had a chance to put some strength into it, the rope came out, alone, with no statue at the end of it

'Ow!'

A loud thud was heard and Haley turned to see. Hillary was flat on her back on the ground.

'Damn it!'

Aaron laughed. Hillary stood up and went to attack him before Haley got hold of her and stopped her.

'Let go of me!' she shouted as she squirmed to get out of her grip. Damn, she had a bloody strong grip!

'I'll let you go if you calm down.'

She stopped and was soon released.

'How'd you manage that, Hills?' said Aaron looking amused. Hillary glared at him pissed off.

'I started pulling to get the statue out and guess what! It wasn't there! It was just a rope, which as you may or may not have gathered is lighter than a half iron half bronze statue, so do the math!'

Haley looked at the wet ropes laying on the ground. Hillary saw her looking and crouched down to inspect them. She picked one up and brought it closer to inspect.

'It looks like it's been bitten', she said, 'or cut with a faulty knife. Look, the ends of it are frayed.'

Haley and Aaron studied it closely.

'Well, it definitely wasn't cut', he said.

'But how could it have been bitten?' pointed out Haley.

Hillary's eyes widened with realization; she gasped.

'Vampire fish…'

'What?' asked Aaron, more not understanding than not hearing.

'Vampire fish! They lurk in this water after dark. They're extremely dangerous! They have sharp teeth and will tear up anything in hopes of finding blood', she said looking very alarmed.

Aaron smirked.

'Come on! Next thing you'll tell me they sparkle in the sun!'

'No, that they don't do, mostly because THEY AREN'T OUT DURING DAYTIME!' she practically screamed. 'Can't you take anything seriously for once?'

At this Aaron started laughing, harder and harder, Haley joining him. Hillary shook her head in despair. After a while the laughter died down, Aaron trying to catch his breath and compose himself.

'So what you are saying', started Haley, 'is that there's no way to retrieve the statue without losing a limb?'

'Exactly!' said Hillary relieved.

Aaron's expression changed instantly. Worry started to take over, his hands automatically went for his hair and he started repeating the word "no".

'But you know what?' said Hillary in what seemed like an attempt to cheer him up, 'we did what we came here to do, we got rid of the statue, now we can go home.'

'No no no we CANT GO HOME! We came here to return the statue, not get rid of it!' he screamed.

'It doesn't matter, it's not our problem anymore, it'll just rust away and disappear, let's go home.'

'I'm not going home until the statue is in its place!'

Both girls gasped.

'B… but we can't! WE could get killed trying to get it out!' said Haley very worried and concerned for her brother's sanity.

'I don't care! We'll find a way!'

Hillary huffed and Haley smacked her hand on her forehead. Suddenly, Hillary gasped; she had an idea!

'While I had the statue I noticed on the inscription the name of the sculptor. I found it weird at first cause it sounded familiar, but then I realized why. A person I work with is after him for taking materials from the mine without his permission; he doesn't actually own the mine, but you know. No one has seen him for years and he was pretty old then so he could be dead. Either way, I know he was hiding from this person and I know where he lived,'

'Where?' asked Haley impatiently and anxious to know.

'Under the mausoleum', she replied smiling widely and nodding her head as if to say "suckers!"

Aaron was skeptical.

'How do you know this?' he asked.

'I had to make a delivery for him once at work. Don't think I went in, I just left the stuff in front of the door.'

'So what's the plan?' asked Haley again.

Hillary shrugged.

'We could ask him to make another one? Dunno, I mean I could get the materials and all, he'd only have to make it.'

Aaron took a deep breath.

'It's not a great plan, but it's a plan and it's worth a try.'

Hillary smiled but Haley remained expressionless. Could this person really help?

'So it's set! Hillary, you go find this person, we'll wait here', he added.

She was taken aback. She opened her mouth to say something but no words came out. Aaron raised an eyebrow.

'W…wah… What? You expect me to go?'

'You do know him better and **you **suggested the plan', said Aaron.

'I've never even met the guy! I know him just as well as you do!'

'You know his name.'

'Cornelius Lockheart! There, now you all know it!'

Aaron crossed his arms, his patience coming to an end.

'You caused this situation so you should go fix it!' he said raising his tone of voice. Haley who had her head lowered and her eyes fixed on the ground, nodded quickly, hoping Hillary wouldn't see her.

Hillary looked at them both in disbelief. She was hoping someone would say something, nut they were silent. Defeated, she lowered her head and sighed.

'Fine! But if I die, it's on your conscience.'

'If you need any help, just shout, we'll be here.'

'Yeah yeah whatever!' she said as she walked towards the mausoleum. It was really creepy! She'd never got this close to it. Standing before the door looking up at it, it looked like a castle of darkness. It was like she was walking into her own grave, especially since she had to hover in the tunnels.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and stepped into it. Once she opened them she was in a small dark room. The only light came in from tinted window and there were urns everywhere. If it was possible, the inside of the building was creepier than the outside.

She ignored her fear and proceeded to walk towards the tiny opening in the wall. She had to crouch down to fit. Before she actually went through, she peeked. It was pitch black and completely impossible to see, so she reached for the lighter she kept in her front pocket and lighted it.

Aiming it inside the cave-like interior of the wall, she crawled through. She couldn't help but feel like Alice in Wonderland.

Hillary was now sitting at the edge of a tunnel, which unfortunately was not horizontal. It was impossible to climb down while holding the lighter, so she'd have to leave it and climb down in the dark to get to the underground tunnels. She shivered at the prospect but gritted her teeth and did it. With ninja-like agility she had managed to get down and relighted the lighter. She was at the bottom of the first tunnel and now another three appeared in front of her, these thankfully horizontal.

"Well it can't be this one", she thought about the one on her right with the narrowest opening, "it's in the direction of the town."

Having eliminated one, she turned to the other two and randomly picked one. With her arm outstretched in front of her holding the lighter, she started.

_21:09_

It felt like hours, but Hillary wouldn't know; she had lost track of time. She was getting exhausted, something very unusual for her who had an incredible stamina. It was really hot underground, as if the core of the earth was right beneath her feet, and she felt like passing out.

To start with, she wasn't even sure she had taken the right path, however somewhere down the line the two tunnels connected. She kept walking for a little while, or rather slogging, until she noticed light that wasn't coming from her lighter. She stopped in her tracks and blew the tiny flame out to see where it was coming from.

It was only dim and was reflecting on the cave walls. She followed it down a rather confusing path when she found the source of it.

An old oil lamp was burning on an antique mahogany table. She looked around; she was at what appeared to be the end of the tunnel, in a place that actually looked like a cave. There were random pieces of furniture everywhere, dusty couches, tables anywhere you looked, wooden shelves attached to the cave walls, full of knick-knacks, even a fridge in the middle of the "room".

"This must be it!" she thought happily. However the person she was looking for was nowhere to be seen. She checked for secret passages and other "rooms" but there was nothing.

"Where could he be?" she thought as she sat on the nearest couch.

'AAAAHH!'

A loud scream was heard from under her and she felt the couch move. She shot up immediately, screaming. She backed away from it, grabbing the nearest object of the old coffee table and held it up ready to attack.

The blanket that was stranded on the couch was suddenly thrown back and an angry man appeared. He hopped off the seat and glared at the intruder.

Hillary lowered her weapon which happened to be a miniature sculpture of Venus and looked at the man in front of her.

He was short, rather old and had brown hair that had started to go gray. He also looked grumpy but that could have been because he was glaring at her.

'Are you Cornelius Lockheart?' she asked timidly.

The man grunted.

'Gimme that here', he said as he snatched the sculpture out of her hand, 'I made it last month.'

'Oh it is very pretty!' said Hillary trying to get on the strange man's good side. 'Actually, it's one of your statues I'd like to talk about…'

'How did you get here?' he sneered.

'Huh?'

'How did you get here?'

Hillary paused for bit, for some reason she had difficulty fully understanding the question. It had come out of nowhere.

'Well, I just followed the tunnels under the mausoleum and here's where it took me! I once made a delivery for you if you remember, two bronze, one silver? So basically we've met! Anyway, I was wondering if you could do me a favour…'

'A favour?' the man snarled. 'You barge in and you expect me to do you a favour?'

'I'm really sorry sir! I swear if there was a door I would have knocked-

'Oh now you're insulting my house? Sure, any favour you like!' he shouted at the top of his voice. This was going to be much more difficult than she expected.

'Well, if it's any comfort to you, the favour's for my brother. He's seen your work and went crazy about it, literally, so he desperately wants a replica of a statue you made.'

The man's expression softened. He now looked rather flattered.

'A fan huh? I knew it, no matter what they told me, I knew it! Finally, the recognition I deserve! I was waiting for this day my whole life!'

Hillary remained silent, watching the sculptor weirdly. It would be better to just cooperate.

'Which statue would that be my dear?' asked the man bringing her out of her thoughts.

'The statue in the graveyard-

'Ah, the "Graveyard Statue"! One of my finest work!'

Hillary hadn't stopped looking at him like he was a psycho from the moment she got there.

'Yeah. Do you think you can have it ready soon, like before the sun's out?'

The man nodded.

'Luckily for you, I have the Sculpt-O-Sculptor 3000! It can make any statue within ten minutes. It's my lifetime's work, it took me 20 years to build. The world's greatest invention and no one will ever get to see it!' he cried.

'Great, so you can help us! Can you make a statue like the graveyard one?'

'I can but as you know, nothing in life comes for free…'

Hillary was now suspicious. What could he possibly want?'

The odd man walked towards what looked like a shower from the future. He slid the door open and inside it was full of buttons and wires with a bit of empty space.

'Here it is. Isn't it just marvelous?' he said to Hillary.

'The magic statue-making machine? Oh it's wonderful!' she said pretending to be just as excited as he was. He closed the door and turned to Hillary.

'Here's what I want. Ever heard of the Deathflower?'

She shook her head.

'Well I want it. Bring me one and you can have the statue.'

'Deal!' she said giving a thumbs up despite having absolutely no idea what a death flower was.

She began to go back feeling defeated. This close, they had come this close to restoring the statue and now they had to give up. All that work for nothing! There was only one solution she thought of walking back, and that involved the three of them tying and gagging the sculptor and hijacking the machine.

She was finally back in the mausoleum, never did she ever think she would be happy to be there and ran for the door.

Aaron and Haley were near the mausoleum entrance in case Hillary needed them, Aaron sitting on the ground and Haley leaning on the wall.

'Guys!' they heard Hillary call. 'It's over, I'm really sorry.'

Aaron was looking at her as if he didn't quite get what she said.

'What do you mean?'

'I really tried. He said he'd make the statue only if I brought him a death flower. I know! I was like "what the hell".

Haley lowered her head in thought.

"Death flower…"

'So can we go home already?' whined Hillary.

Aaron turned towards the gate and started to walk, Hillary following.

'Death flower! I know what it is!'

They both turned to see Haley.

'It grows in cemeteries and edges of cliffs, anywhere near death!'

Hillary stared at her wide-eyed.

'You mean such a thing exists?'

'Just like vampire fish?' added Aaron.

He got a thump in the chest by Hillary.

'There should be some around…' she mumbled.

Haley circled the whole graveyard studying each and every patch of green she found, searching for the precious flower. Hillary and Aaron just stood still, rather puzzled by Haley.

She was getting frustrated she couldn't find it. She had searched almost every bush in the area to no avail. Now she was close to the gate studying a weird plant. It was bigger than the rest she had seen and had more leaves. Then she noticed; an odd black flower wit needle-thin petals and dark leaves.

'Found it!'

Hillary's jaw dropped to the ground and Aaron was triumphant.

'Great! Now we can go get the statue, right Hills?'

She just "hn"ed.

'Alright let's go!' said Haley as she ran to them, flower in hand.

'Hillary will lead the way.'

'Hn, whatever…'

They all disappeared in the mausoleum, off to retrieve the statue.

Hillary was walking at a fast pace, the other two following, Aaron however having difficulties. He was panting like a dog and all but crawling the way there. Haley had stopped several times to help him but eventually gave up. He was way behind the girls.

They finally got there. The old man was waiting for them near the statue machine. Next to him, a brand new "Graveyard Statue".

'Oh hey, new visitors!' he said and came to greet them. Hillary was introducing him to Haley when he noticed Aaron who was clutching to the wall desperately trying to catch his breath.

'Now you young man are going to die from a heart attack!' he said, 'you need to exercise more, it's not healthy to refrain form physical movement.'

He tried to look at the sculptor but was panting too heavily.

'Oh, he's a writer, you know, and a bit of a nerd. He doesn't really get a chance. Likes sunlight but thinks he'll fall apart if he moves too many muscles!' said Hillary mockingly.

He glared at her and tried to say something but his breathing was still too fast to have a chance to speak. Hillary turned to the sculptor.

'Got the statue?'

'Got the flower?'

'Here's the flower!'

'There's the statue.'

The two girls got hold of the statue and started to move it. Aaron had caught his breath and was almost able to help.

'Come on princess, you should be carrying this yourself', said Hillary. Aaron just grunted; holy cow, how heavy was even one third of the damn thing!

They were now in the mausoleum and all of them were exhausted. It was a miracle they had managed to carry the object this far. The half open door that led outside was their gate to salvation.

Aaron was in front holding the top of the statue walking backwards. He pushed the door open with his back and was outside. Finally, fresh air filled his lungs. The girls had come out too and the lake was centimeters away from Aaron's heels. He walked sideways to avoid it and so they could get the statue past it. Once they reached the right angle he resumed to walking backwards. He couldn't really see behind him so he tripped on a grave and fell over, the statue landing on his left leg. A few seconds passed before a loud scream was heard from the cemetery and the surrounding areas.

Haley almost dropped her side of the statue to cover her ears. For once again, Hillary was unaffected.

The screaming eventually stopped and she couched down to untrap her brother's leg.

'Damn it Aaron, how could you let this happen!'

Haley carefully placed her side down and went over to help the girl. They had managed to free his leg when Hillary noticed sparks coming out of the grave he had knocked over. It had split in half and the sparks where getting stronger and stronger.

'Oh no! No no no! Aaron please don't tell me you knocked over the Tombstone of Life and Death!'

The sparks turned into light and the broken stones separated even more. The earth started to shake and the ground under the tombstone opened. The invasive light showered the whole cemetery. Sounds from the opening could now be heard as if coming from the distance closer and closer. Shadowy forms started to show, fighting, trying to get out but not being able to, like something was holding them back. They could see things that looked like hands, legs and even blurry faces, all struggling to run free, this in the opening that was like a well of spirits.

The three of them were frozen at the sight of this. No one could tell what was going on, but they were really afraid. The noises were getting louder and now voices could be clearly heard. The figures became more visible and stronger as they were managing to get further away from the tomb. One particularly feisty one was trashing around madly to get out of the invisible grip. It soon escaped and flew into the night sky whistling happily.

The noises quieted and the figures calmed down. They thought it was over but then something really weird happened. A dark silhouette emerged from the opening and stood tall in front of the three. All of them felt their blood freeze. It was wearing a black cloak that covered its face and any skin it may have had, except for its skeletical hands. In the right hand it held scythe.

None of them dared utter a sound; they knew they were up against death itself. They remained completely still but were paralyzed when the figure appeared to be looking at them.

'You! You have caused my rage! Thanks to you I lost a soul. The Tragic Clown damnit, we all loved that guy!' said the Grim Reaper, the last part in a surprisingly whiny voice. Then he cleared his throat and resumed to his previous attitude. 'You shall pay! I lost a soul and I expect one back.'

That comment alone was enough to cause the death of any of them.

'Huh…um m I...I..no..' was heard from Hillary.

'What was that?' said the Reaper.

'It… it w-would b.. be unfair that…We didn't do anything..'

He waved his scythe angrily.

'You opened the gate to the Underworld! If it weren't for you, Tragic Clown wouldn't have escaped!'

Hillary gulped.

'H…h t-to be truthful, it w-as Aaron who fell o-over the gr..grave..'

Aaron protested but was shushed by Haley.

'H-how you g-give us the chance t-to return the soul? she continued.

Her siblings looked at her rather freaked out.

The Grim Reaper laughed.

'Now why would I do that when I have three souls to pick from?'

No one spoke.

'But… but it's not our time yet!' shouted Hillary. 'You need to give us a chance!'

'I'm planning on doing so. You think I can just reap any soul anytime to send to the Underworld? Oh no, they're rules. If it was up to me, everyone would be down there!' he laughed evilly.

He cleared his throat.

'Now here's what's gonna happen; I'm going to ask each one of you a riddle, one of them needs to be correct for you to live. If all the answers are wrong, then I will take the person that the person with the last wrong answer appoints.'

All of them sweat dropped.

'Let's start with you since you seem akin to talk', he said to Hillary.

She gulped; their lives depended on her answer.

'It cuts you in half without cutting you.'

Her mind went blank; there wasn't such a thing!

'Well?'

'Um h…'

'You know the answer?'

She didn't answer.

'It's a mirror, girl, a mirror. I thought you would know that considering the way you look.'

He moved on to the next leaving Hillary even more puzzled.

'Boy, it exists without existing.'

He drained his mind but it was impossible. Nothing can exist without existing. He was sure the Reaper was playing him.

'Idea. That exists without existing. To think you would be aware of that since your job depends on it.'

He turned to Haley. She felt the ground underneath her disappear. Someone's life really depended on this question. Her heart was racing and she felt like she was going to pass out in a matter of seconds.

'Here it goes; it beats death without beating it.

They were screwed. Aaron and Hillary looked at each other worried. She had got the most difficult question and it was the last one.

Haley was fine. Fine as in fine. It was as if she had crossed over to some other dimension where nothing mattered and she was numb to everything. Her life started playing in front of her eyes like a movie in reverse. She saw the trip to come to the graveyard, Hillary showing them the statue, herself watering the plants- wait, watering the plants? Then it hit her; there was a certain plant she really loved in the garden. Its fruit were the most precious fruit any plant, tree, anything could give. It was the..

'Life fruit! It's the life fruit!'

The other two looked up, their faces brightened up with hope.

The Grim Reaper was startled; from what they could see. He looked taken aback at first but then rather mad.

'You win this time, but we will meet again. You can't always run away from me!' he said as he stepped back into the hole in the ground. It closed behind them and the tomb was repaired.

The siblings all sighed in relief. They couldn't believe they had survived that, they couldn't even believe that had happened!

'Wow', said Aaron, 'that was really impressive!'

'Seems like gardening is useful for something after all!' added Hillary.

Haley just smiled. Yes, they had done it! Now everything was ok and they wouldn't be seen the Grim Reaper for a very long time.

'Now really, we're going home!' said Hillary as she helped Aaron to his feet by holding his arm over the shoulder.

'We still have to stand the statue', he said. She looked at it.

'Oh just forget it! The wind knocked it. Now first, we need to take you to the hospital.'

He smirked.

'I'll survive.'

'Listen to your sister', chirped in Haley as she draped his other hand around her shoulder to help him walk.

'By the way, I'm driving!' said Hillary smiling wickedly.

'Oh no, you really want to kill me today!', he sighed.

They walked towards the graveyard gate, exiting it and heading for the car.

'If you think about it', started Haley, 'you caused everything to yourself.'

'Huh?'

'Yeah', added Hillary, 'you insisted on replacing the statue when it fell, you tripped over the tombstone and caused this mayhem and you dropped the statue on your leg.'

'It was your fault for stealing it!'

'Huh, are you always going to hold that against me?'

Haley smiled; how much she loved them!


End file.
